국제앰네스티는 세 명의 베트남 활동가들이 노동권을 위한 활동을 했다는 이유로 9년과 7년형에 처해진 사건을 강력히 규탄한다.
세 명의 활동가는 도안 후이(Doan Huy Chuong), 도 티 민 한(Do Thi Minh Hanh), 그리고 윈 황 ?o(Nguyen Hoang Quoc)으로 지난 25일 기소되어 26일에 진행된 재판에서 “보안 방해”를 이유로 유죄판결을 받았다. 이들은 공장에서 유인물을 나눠주거나 노동자의 권리를 지지하는 활동을 펼쳐왔다.
국제앰네스티 도나 게스트(Donna Guest) 아시아•태평양국 부국장은 “당국은 구속된 세명의 노동운동가들을 당장 석방해야 하며, 정부를 비판하거나 평화활동을 하는 사람들에 대한 불필요한 단속을 멈추어야한다. 오늘 내려진 이 판결과 활동가들 및 블로거 에 대한 지속적인 구속조치는 점점 더 척박해져 가는 베트남의 표현의 자유와 결사의 자유를 보여준다”고 전했다.
도안은 비공식 단체인 “노동•농민연합단체(United Workers-Farmers Organization; UWFO)”의 창단 회원으로 2007년부터 2008년까지 “민주적 자유 남용” 라는 죄목으로 18개월간 복역했다. 도와 윈은 탄원단체인 “부당함의 피해자들”의 멤버이다.
현재 베트남에는 금지된 정치단체 옹호자, 독립된 노조원, 블로거, 사업가, 기자, 그리고 작가를 포함한 최소 30명의 양심수들이 복역중인 것으로 파악되고 있다. 
HEAVY SENTENCES FOR VIET NAM LABOUR ACTIVISTS CONDEMNED
Amnesty International has condemned the nine and seven-year prison sentences given to three activists in Viet Nam for carrying out their legitimate work on labour rights.
Doan Huy Chuong, Do Thi Minh Hanh, and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung were today convicted and sentenced after a speedy trial yesterday for ‘disrupting security’. They had distributed leaflets and supported workers’ rights at a factory.
“The authorities should immediately release three labour organisers, and stop this needless crackdown on government critics and peaceful activists” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific.
Today’s harsh sentences, and the continuing arrests of activists and bloggers, paint an increasingly bleak picture of freedom of expression and association in Viet Nam.”
Doan is a founding member of the unofficial United Workers-Farmers Organization (UWFO) and previously spent 18 months in prison between 2007 and 2008 on the charge of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’. Do and Nguyen are members of Victims of Injustice, a petitioners’ movement.
The three activists are the latest to be convicted in an ongoing wave of arrests and trials of activists, organisers and bloggers.
There have been at least seven other trials of 17 dissidents in Viet Nam since September 2009, and seven further arrests in the last five months alone.
There have been two arrests of Vietnamese bloggers in the last few weeks: Phan Thanh Hai, known as Anh Ba Saigon and Nguyen Huong Tra, known as Do Long Girl. The prominent imprisoned blogger and journalist Nguyen Hoang Hai known as Dieu Cay completed a prison sentence for politically-motivated charges last week, but instead of being released, is now under investigation for ‘spreading propaganda against the state’.
Four more activists are awaiting trial for ‘attempting to overthrow the state’ following their arrests in July and August. Three of them – Nguyen Thanh Tham, Tran Thi Thuy and Pastor Duong Kim Khai – have campaigned for social justice for farmers, while the fourth, Professor Pham Minh Hoang, had protested against bauxite mining in the Central Highlands. All are members of the overseas Vietnamese network Viet Tan, which calls for political reform.
At least 30 prisoners of conscience are currently imprisoned in Viet Nam, including members and supporters of banned political groups, independent trade unionists, bloggers, businessmen, journalists, and writers.
The trial, conviction and sentencing of the three labour activists comes on the eve of the ASEAN summit in Ha Noi, beginning on 28 October.
